ARCTIC COUNCIL SAO MEETING 16-18 MARCH, REYKJAVIK ICELAND MEETING CODE: SAOIS203_2021_RVK-VIRTUAL1 DOCUMENT TITLE Underwater Noise Pollution from Shipping in the Arctic Report AGENDA ITEM NUMBER N/A SUBMITTED BY PAME DOCUMENT FILENAME SAOIS203_2021_RVK_Virtual1-InfoDoc_PAME-Underwater-Noise-Arctic-Impacts-Management- Solutions-Final-Phase-1-Report NUMBER OF PAGES, NOT INCLUDING THIS COVER SHEET 84 February 18, 2021 To: The Chairman of the SAOs and the Arctic Council SAOs Cc: PAME National Representatives, Permanent Participants Subject: Underwater Noise Pollution from Shipping in the Arctic Report (co-leads: Canada/Germany/WWF) This report provides new knowledge on underwater noise pollution from shipping in the Arctic. Multiple data sources, including PAME’s Arctic Ship Traffic Database (ASTD) were used to generate information on source levels of underwater noise produced by ships operating in the Arctic between 2013 and 2019. The contribution of these ships to the underwater soundscape was modelled and changes explored over space and time. Finally, underwater noise from shipping was discussed in relation to potential effects on noise-sensitive species, with a focus on marine mammals, due to their reliance on underwater sound and importance to Arctic coastal Indigenous peoples. The frequency range of sound use by marine mammals was compared with that of underwater noise from ships (including ice breakers) to identify acoustically sensitive species. Additionally, underwater noise was modelled at a fine-scale resolution in three locations identified as having relatively high presence of shipping and marine mammals (Baffin Bay/Davis Strait, Barents Sea, and Bering Sea). Estimates of excess noise (the amount of additional noise contributed to the ambient underwater soundscape, in this case, by shipping) were generated in these locations and across the Arctic. Over seven years, from 2013 – 2019, underwater noise from shipping increased substantially in multiple locations across the Arctic. This increase in some places effectively represented a doubling in noise levels – some parts of the Arctic are twice as loud as they were in 2013. PAME has welcomed this report and the project co-leads will finalize editing, including adding three figures (31-33), updating figures 19-21 and 35-37 (note: the content of those figures will not change) and the layout after the March SAO Meeting. SAO action: Based on the above, SAOs are invited to welcome this report as an important contribution to work on Arctic shipping and its potential impacts on the Arctic marine ecosystems, noting that further work is proposed during the 2021-2023 biennium. UNDERWATER NOISE POLLUTION FROM SHIPPING IN THE ARCTIC A report to PAME Applied Ocean Sciences DW ShipConsult Table of Contents List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ 3 List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. 6 Authors of this report ..................................................................................................................... 7 Funders of this report .................................................................................................................... 7 Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................... 8 Synopsis of results .................................................................................................................................... 8 Conclusions and recommendations from results .................................................................................... 11 Introduction and justification for this report .............................................................................. 13 Datasets used in analyses ............................................................................................................. 16 Processing the Arctic Ship Traffic Database dataset ................................................................. 20 Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 22 1. Calculating underwater noise source levels of ships operating in the Arctic ......................... 22 Selection of prediction model to calculate source levels .................................................................................... 22 Methodology of the Wittekind Model ................................................................................................................ 23 Input data ........................................................................................................................................................... 24 2. Underwater noise propagation from shipping .......................................................................... 25 Propagation models and parameters ................................................................................................................... 25 Acoustic frequencies selected ............................................................................................................................ 27 Statistical processing of acoustic fields and products ........................................................................................ 28 Inclusion of sea ice in noise propagation models ............................................................................................... 28 3. Determining trends in underwater noise from Arctic shipping over time ............................. 32 4. Implications of underwater noise from shipping for marine mammals ................................. 33 Acoustic overlap between Arctic marine mammals and underwater noise from ships ...................................... 33 Determining excess noise levels ........................................................................................................................ 33 Results........................................................................................................................................... 36 1. Underwater noise source levels of ships operating in the Arctic ............................................. 36 2. Spatial distribution of underwater noise from shipping in the Arctic .................................... 37 Low-frequency underwater noise propagation ................................................................................................... 37 Higher frequency underwater noise propagation ............................................................................................... 42 3. Trends over time in underwater noise from shipping .............................................................. 45 Acoustic overlap between mammal and ship noise ............................................................................................ 48 Excess underwater noise in three regions important for marine mammals ........................................................ 50 Excess underwater noise across the Arctic ......................................................................................... 55 Discussion..................................................................................................................................... 58 Areas of uncertainty ............................................................................................................................. 59 1 Potential Next Steps .............................................................................................................................. 60 Web products that accompany this report ................................................................................... 62 Acronyms ...................................................................................................................................... 63 References .................................................................................................................................... 66 2 List of Figures Figure 1. Pan-Arctic 25Hz decidecade band weekly median SEL for a) March 2015 and b) September 2015. Figure 2. Pan-Arctic 25Hz decidecade band weekly 75th percentile Excess Noise for a) March 2015 and b) September 2015. Figure 3. Time series of 63 Hz decidecade sound energy level (dB/µPa2) from 2013 to 2019 showing the median (blue) and 95th percentile (red) in four regional seas: a) Western Baffin Bay, b) Northern Barents Sea, c) North Slope Beaufort, d) Kara Sea. Figure 4. The number of unique MMSI and LMO numbers by LME in the raw Arctic Shipping Traffic Data AIS dataset. Figure 5. Illustration of individual noise sources as described in the Wittekind model V0, shown for medium sized container vessel. Figure 6. Flow chart of acoustic ship model in connection with ASTD and IHS data. Figure 7. The impacts of sea ice on acoustic propagation at 250 Hz, a) ice-free summer where a single ship off the west coast of Greenland insonifies the entirety of Baffin Bay, b) whereas in the winter the sound is confined to within 100 km of the source. Figure 8. Propagation Loss (PL) at 63 Hz for a surface ship in the a) Atlantic temperate deep ocean and b) the Beaufort Sea showing the impact of the upward refracting Arctic profile on propagation. Figure 9. Comparison between the noise levels from 16 ships spaced 200 km apart in the tropics (left) and the Arctic. Figure 10: